Binge Free Challenge: 2.21.11 - 2.28.11 - Finish February Strong!!

Day 1 again -- (actually day two but I'm employing psychological tactics/Jedi mindtricks on myself) and am trying something new. I start out the day with positive affirmations that this will be a "good" day of clean living, healthy eating, etc. so every day will be day 1 from now on.

happytobeamom: Do you mean the Cadbury Mini Eggs?! If so, OMG. They're my obssession...and since they only come out during Easter (sometimes at XMas) this is a particularly tough time for me. I buy lots and lots of them so I can have them all year long. I usually succeed in having them in moderation for fear they'll finish quickly. Aside from that, I am here anytime for you. I also admire your dedication to spinning -- I wish I could but my butt hurts too much. Would be great to be able to stick to such a calorie-zapping workout. Maybe, just maybe, your spin classmates might have noticed the 10lbs in your cute Lululemon's but I doubt it...people are usually so preoccupied with themselves and how they look that they're kind of oblivious. Keep at it! I do resistance once or twice a week and some sort of cardio 5 days a week -- jogging/elliptical/stairmaster, etc. I also walk 3 miles to work on most days, out of habit, not for exercise. I can't wait for warmer weather when my outdoor bootcamp classes in the park start...I LOVE them.

misssunshine: Great job on not going overboard on the cookies! I, too, am trying to get away from the diet mentality and letting myself eat whatever it is but in moderation. For example, today my boss is taking my mom and I out to lunch (mom is visiting from far away) so we'll be at a restaurant. And tonight, Mom and I are invited to wine/cheese at a friend's place...usually, I'd be pissed off beyond belief that these people were sabotaging my weigh-loss efforts. Now, I'm looking at it as a learning opportunity -- have a healthy dish at lunch, and don't go crazy with the cheese and crackers! Fingers crossed.

day 7! I have officially made it one whole week and I'm feeling pretty good about it. I can tell I have lost some of the weight I gained especially in the way things fit me now but I am not going to weigh myself--it would still probably depress me. I plan to go as long as I can with weighing and hopefully by the time I do weigh I will be around my lowest weight once more.

day 5 for me too, i actually had some panic attack today and wanted to binge for a moment but I couldn't because fortunately everyone was at home and mom made some cake and cookies yesterday and pancakes with nutella yesterday and today so i was overeating a little but didn't binge. I probably went over my normal daily calorie intake. I've been sittin in front of my computer all day and finally finished my school paper which is a disaster and i'm affraid what will my teacher say and on monday i have a presentation so i have to learn it by memory...which is impossible so i just can't wait for monday to pass!! My body is so sore from sitting all day, heck all week. I haven't excersized in months, I should seriously start again soon and I feel so deprived when outside sunshines and i have to stay in all day to study. I feel so sory for choosing this undergraduate school. Such a waste of my life and nerves.

off topic: rainbow84, have you noticed how many similarities there are between us: i always confuse your ticker with mine, and we have similar nicknames, you're the rainbow and i'm the sunshine and i also started loosing when i was about 96 kg. and we're the same day binge-free. so keep up, you're gonna be my motivation now, you know to keep up with you, so if you fail i fail ;P no pressure though
good luck ya'll!!

__________________There is a skinny woman inside of me crying to get out but I shut the b**** up with cookies.

Day 5 for me. I was up to 15 or so, and then really overate on Saturday. It was not the worst binge I've ever had -- I didn't eat until I was painfully full or sick, didn't get jittery or headachey -- but definitely overate with that self-destructive determination that marks a binge.

Krampus, I interact with peanut butter on a daily basis (3 kids who all love it) and have decided that I can't even lick the bit that clings to the knife. I just can't go down that road.

Vixsin, Paris, you both rock! Thank you for proving that we can all learn to go the distance!

to all of you. Let's get through this day with strength, whatever the number.

I'm so bummed - I weighed myself and I am UP a pound from the last weigh-in a week ago. It's all I can do to not weigh myself every day and I have been SO careful with what I put in my mouth, getting exercise almost every day, not binging, eating enough calories so that I have 3500 calorie deficit.... SO BUMMED I'm working SO hard and trying to lose weight for this darn wedding in 4 months, trying to lose weight for myself so that all my clothes will fit again - I don't understand and the crappy thing is that I just have to keep plugging away. There's nothing i can change the reality is that what I am doing now isn't MUCH difference from maintenance, same foods just a higher calorie ration so I have to stick with it. I even felt really light getting up on the scale and thought at first that it said a 3 lb loss (which isn't realistic of course...)

And then I get an update from my friend whose sister has been in Houston at MD Anderson getting tests run on a tumor they found - and of course it puts it into perspective - a 1 lb gain, or cancer... her sister is my age...

All that said, this was the wrong way to wake up this AM. So bummed, such a big day ahead of me - have a presentation to practice before I get together to practice it with my professor - a 6 mile run to do - at least I have a lunch-time EFT therapy session. First one since before I left for France in September so hopefully it'll flush some of this stuff out.

Today is Day 18 binge free for me - I feel like just grabbing the cereal box but I better get my writing/bible reading done before I think about eating so I can calm down. Getting married exactly 4 months from today.

leblebi - i love spinning so much. i am so glad i can teach something at work. i was an aerobics instructor for 6 months back in 1998 but i had a blood clot and had to stop. spinning classes are easy to teach and get lots of people coming so that makes me feel like i am giving back after my weight loss and saying "see, anyone can do this!" it sounds like you have a well rounded work out routine! that is great! i am a huge fan of cross training. today i am doing a cardio/weight mix on my own. i teach once a week, jog once a week in good weather, like aerobics classes, kickboxing and other stuff too so i rarely do the same work out more than twice a week. keeps my body guessing!

sarah - hold tight !!! you can get past this 1lb. who really knows why our body does these things... maybe it is just a challenge for you to get past? prove to yourself that you are more than what the scale says. you have so much on your plate right now - try not to let a number define your day. what can you be proud of today? refocus away from the scale and be SUPER PROUD of what you have accomplished today, this week, this month and this year so far!!!!

i am proud to say i was on plan yesterday: Not because i deprived myself but because i wanted to be. i could have had a chocolate egg or smarties or extra stuff but went to bed comfortably hungry, woke up feeling refreshed and my belly rewarded me by not being bloated. i have an amazing life - yes i have challenges, we all do - i am just so happy that i have my boys, my exH is not that disruptive, my bf is amazing and i am officially in love again ! one day at a time is how i am living right now.

AHEM! ATTENTION PLEASE! I am pleased to announce that I made it thru Day 4 without binging -- even though I was faced with a table of DESSERTS ONLY at my Church Ladies Meeting!! (By the way, why do we ladies do this to ourselves and others?? We had all eaten supper before we met -- but we still were offered literally a TABLE FULL of yummy things.)
Anyhoo -- I refrained -- and this morning, I am starting DAY FIVE! Hope I make it thru today -- and of course the weekend is looming -- always a tough time for me. Stay strong, Chickadees!

Last night I came dangerously close to binging. It started with a small, seemingly harmless serving of frozen yogurt. I know better! Anything frozen and creamy is a trigger for me. I got home and walked straight to the refrigerator (after already having eaten dinner), which I haven't done in weeks, only to find a brand new container of hummus. A few bites of hummus and a mini-bagel later, I thought about the fact that I've gone almost three weeks without doing this, and made myself stop. So while I definitely ate more than I should have, I know had it been a true binge, I wouldn't have been able to make myself put the container back in the fridge, grab my water, and walk away.

Vixsin/Happy - Thanks ladies for the encouragement - Why is it so hard to not let the scale define us? I'm not binging, I'm eating healthily, I'm exercising, my body is healthy... Just know it means a lot to have encouragement from ladies who are in the same boat.